Pubdate: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 Source: News Journal (DE) Copyright: 2000 The News Journal Contact: Letters to Editor, Box 15505, Wilmington, DE 19850 Fax: (302) 324-2595 Website: http://www.delawareonline.com/ Author: Steven Church NCCO POLICE SPOT POT PLANTS FROM AIR An off-duty policeman on an Army National Guard training flight led New Castle County police to one of their biggest marijuana seizures in recent years after spotting the plants growing near the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. County police officer Elwood Gilger was flying a helicopter near the canal Friday when crew members spotted strange plants growing among wetland weeds, New Castle County police spokesman Trinidad Navarro said. Gilger and the crew flew in closer and Gilger realized the plants were marijuana, Navarro said. The crew mapped the coordinates and contacted New Castle County police. The area was on the north side of the canal between Del. 1 and Summit Bridge, police spokesman Sgt. William J. Harden II said. Because the plants were so hard to get to, officers were dropped near the area by helicopter and then walked toward them. There were 70 marijuana plants about 6 feet tall in an area the size of a football field. Most of the plants were in one end of the field and had obviously been well tended, Harden said. "This wasn't an accidental field of pot," he said. Police seized the plants, which would have yielded about 140 pounds of pot worth about $140,000. That's one of the largest seizures in recent years by the county, Harden said. Police had not determined Saturday who owned the land. They had made no arrests. - --- MAP posted-by: John Chase